Baseball Don and BabyDoll REDUX
by KamalaC
Summary: Don has to deal with his younger sister being a genius - and trying to keep the other male agents from hitting on her while she consults for him. And everything gets even more complicated when certain feelings make themselves known. EPPESCEST REWRITE
1. Prologue: Snapshots of Childhood

**Title:** Baseball Don and Baby-Doll

**Pairings: **Brief Charlie/Ian, brief Charlie/Colby, eventual Charlie/Don, Larry/Megan.

**Warnings:** Violence, profanity, sex, Eppescest. Also, my first time writing smut – so that's gonna be pretty bad in all likelihood.

**Summary:** What if 'Charlie' was a diminutive of 'Charlotte', not 'Charles? Don has to deal with his younger sister being a genius - and trying to keep the other male agents from hitting on her while she consults for him, without much luck. And everything gets even more complicated when certain feelings make themselves known.

**Author's Notes:** Sparked by a random thought – What if 'Charlie' was a diminutive of 'Charlotte', not 'Charles'?

This is all your fault, Ddee. Apparently I'm unable to turn down your requests. It follows the original fairly closely for the first couple of chapters with a few added scenes, then goes off into DC land.

Please note that I've only seen up to the end of season two. Anything beyond that I only know about through reading fics, and will probably be ignoring.

-BD-

Baseball Don and Baby-Doll, Prologue: Snapshots of Childhood. In which Alan flips through the photo album and reminisces.

-BD-

Alan flipped through the photo album, remembering all the small moments from their past. He was in a melancholy mood, probably having to do with the fact that Charlie's thirtieth birthday was fast approaching, and she was no nearer to settling down than at the age of twenty. At this rate, he was never going to get grandchildren.

He paused at a photograph of a five-year-old Don, holding the newborn Charlie. It brought a smile to his face – even at that age, Don had been good with babies. Even if his first reaction to Charlie had been less than enthusiastic.

-BD-

Don looked down at the bundle in the crib, and scowled.

"I thought I was getting a little brother." He was obviously less than impressed.

"Well, so did we," Margaret gently stroked his hair. "It was a surprise for us to have a girl as well. But you'll still be able to play with her when she grows up a little."

"But she'll want to play girly things," Don protested. "Can't you take her back and get a boy instead?"

"No, we can't," Alan hid a smile. "It doesn't work like that."

"Humph," Don crossed his arms and continued scowling at his newborn sister. Margaret and Alan shared a look, then Margaret turned back to her firstborn in another attempt to win him over.

"Donald, would you like to hold Charlotte?"

"No." Don shook his head firmly. "And that's a stupid name."

"Well, what do you think we should call her?" Margaret was doing her best to placate Don, and he paused for a moment, considering.

"Orc." He nodded, and Alan bit back a laugh at the look on his wife's face.

"O… okay," Margaret rallied quickly. "Well, if you want to call her Orc, you can."

"Really?" Don seemed to perk up a little. "Can I still teach her to play baseball?"

"Of course you can, Sweetheart," Margaret smiled fondly at him. "You're her big brother. You can teach her anything."

Don didn't answer, but seemed a little more receptive to the baby girl now. Margaret decided to try again.

"Would you like to try holding her now?"

"I guess," Don shrugged, and his mother beamed at him. Alan stood back and watched as his son settled himself in the rocking-chair near the crib. Margaret gently lifted the baby from her bed and handed her to Don, showing him first how to properly support her head. The five-year-old seemed to be warming up to his little sister, and held her carefully. One arm cradled her neck, just as he'd been shown, and the other hand gently traced her features. She was currently bald, but Don liked the feel of her head under his hand as he stroked her head. Her large, already expressive eyes were just as dark as his, and she'd inherited the large Eppes nose from their father.

Reverently, Don leaned down a little and pressed a kiss to her forehead, in the way he'd seen his dad do to his mum. It just felt… right.

Margaret and Alan stood back, watching their children getting used to each other. Alan quickly came to his senses and grabbed the camera, knowing that he wanted to remember this moment forever.

-BD-

Alan smiled as he remembered Margaret's anxiety over Don's reluctance to have a little sister. It had worked out okay once he'd gotten used to the idea, and he had been a very protective big brother. Almost too protective once they'd gotten older, in fact.

One thing that he wished he'd gotten a photograph of, was the way that whenever Don moved past Charlie as a baby, he'd always briefly stick his hand in her crib or holder, and let her hold his finger for a few seconds before moving on.

He turned the page, and saw another photograph of the two children that made his heart sing.

-BD-

A year had passed, and although Don still usually called Charlotte 'Orc', he was starting to also use Alan's pet-name for her – Charlie. Margaret despaired of either of them ever using the youngest Eppes' real, full name.

Margaret sighed as she walked into the living room, then froze. Charlotte had pulled herself up to stand with the assistance of the coffee table, and was waving at her big brother. Don was kneeling a few feet away with his arms outstretched.

"C'mon, Orc," Don grinned at his sister. "You can do it!"

Hesitantly, Charlotte stepped away from the table. She carefully tottered forwards for a couple of steps, before she lost her balance and fell. Before she could hit the ground though, Don had caught her. Charlotte babbled up at him in her baby language, and Don laughed as though he knew what she was trying to say.

"Can't let you fall, Orc," he smiled down at her. "You might hurt yourself."

Margaret felt a presence by her side, and turned to see Alan standing next to her with the camera. The couple watched as their children tried again, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. This time, Charlotte toddled for at least two feet before falling into Don's arms in delight.

Charlotte had officially taken her first steps, and they were towards her brother. She already quite clearly idolised him, and he seemed very fond of her as well. They could only hope that the two would retain their closeness as time went on.

-BD-

Alan chuckled at the memory. After the usual first words of 'mama' and 'papa', Charlie had been quick to learn 'Onnie', which at first was the closest she could get to 'Donnie'. It had been so sweet, and Don had been obviously proud.

The next picture to cause Alan to pause was of Don at the age of ten, kneeling with a baseball bat over one shoulder, the other arm around Charlotte. Both were smiling at the camera, and Alan remembered a few hours before the picture had been taken.

-BD-

"Donnie!"

Don sighed and turned to see his five-year-old sister running down the driveway, carrying a large bag. His friends sniggered until he shot them a glare.

"What, Charlie?"

"You forgot this! Gramma bought it for you to carry your baseball stuff, 'member?"

Stifling a grin, Don reached out and grabbed the bag, chucking his glove and bat inside. He noticed that there was already a bottle of water and a few apples, all of which Charlotte had probably stolen from the kitchen fridge. Don was secretly pleased that she had gone to the trouble for him, but he'd never admit it in front of his friends.

"Whatever, Charlie," he shrugged as he slung the bag over his shoulder. "I'll see you later."

"Okay!" Charlie smiled and ran back to the house. Don watched her for a moment before turning and following his friends to the park, not noticing his father standing at the front window, watching the exchange.

He really did love the girl sometimes, even if she did get all the attention. To Charlie, Don could do no wrong, and he knew all the secrets of the world. Well, all the secrets not to do with maths, anyway.

-BD-

Alan chuckled at the memory. They'd already realised that Charlie had an exceptional mind for numbers, and it sometimes caused strain between the siblings. But Charlie always won her brother around with her adoration, and Don would always stand up for his sister if she was being teased by the other kids.

The next picture was a couple of years later, of Don sitting on the couch and reading to Charlie. Although she was brilliant with numbers, reading was still a great challenge for the little girl, so Don would read to her instead. He actually liked to read, even if his preferred books were all about sport.

-BD-

Twelve-year-old Don closed his book with a sigh. It was so boring… but he had to finish it for school. The only part of it he liked was the relationship between the two main characters, a brother and sister. He paused as he thought about the way the literary siblings showed their affection for each other. The big brother called his sister 'Baby-doll', and she would bring him snacks when he was grounded and sent to his room.

Charlie did that, too. Even if Don was sent to his room for being mean to her, Charlie would sneak some food up to him, or refuse to eat her own dinner until he was let out. She was never mad at him for more than a few seconds, before she started begging him to play with her again. Putting the book away slowly, Don decided to try something, and went in search of his little sister.

He found her lying on her stomach in her room, scribbling away at her own homework. At the age of seven, she already had far more work to do than him, thanks to all the special tutoring she had. Charlie didn't seem to mind though – she loved the numbers. The little girl remained oblivious as Don stood over her.

"Whatcha doin', Baby-doll?" He asked, and Charlie jumped. She looked up quickly, a huge smile on her face when she saw who it was. She didn't seem to mind the new name.

Their parents didn't mind either, and it became his new term of endearment for her. At least it was better than 'Orc'.

-BD-

Now, twenty-three years later, Alan sat back and watched as Don and Charlie set about trying to regain the easy friendship that they'd once shared. At times it seemed as though they never would, but he held out hope for them. They'd come this far, and he was certain that they could become close as adults, if only both of them would swallow their damn prides.


	2. Chapter 01: An Alliance Is Formed

Chapter One: An Alliance Is Formed. In which Charlotte bugs Don into letting her help with a case.

-BD-

A small, silver capsule on wheels hurtled down the hill behind CalSci. A helmeted head could be seen poking out of the top, and several students were chasing it. Professor Larry Fleinhardt stepped out of his car in bewilderment as the capsule sped past a speed detector, and the students cheered. A good-looking young man with Indian colouring, whom Larry recognised as Amit Ramajuan, stepped forward whilst noting things down on a clipboard.

"Twenty-one point zero-seven seconds, sixty-eight point three miles per hour." He smiled as the capsule's occupant removed her helmet, letting a mass of curly black hair fall free. "No one would ever guess you don't have a driver's licence."

"MIT and Stamford can't touch that!" The young woman looked ecstatic as the students gathered around to check the capsule and open it up.

"Professor Charlotte Margaret Eppes," Larry stepped forward, shaking his head in resignation.

"Larry!" Charlie smiled up at him. "Gimme a hand." Larry obligingly helped her to climb out of the capsule, holding onto her hand in an effort to keep her attention for more than the usual three seconds.

"So this is what distracts you from helping me, your friend, your colleague, win the Nobel prize for my eleven dimension super-gravity theory?"

Charlie patted him on the back and accepted a notebook and pencil from Amit before trying to explain what they were doing.

"Well, in a way, this project is related to your theory." She gave Larry her most winning smile. Unfortunately, he had become immune to it years ago.

"Wai, uh, I, this go-kart!" Larry eventually managed to get out, and Ami looked up in amusement before going back to his notes. To be fair, that had pretty much been his response to the experiment as well, but Charlie had been adamant about the designs.

"Go-kart?" Charlie gave a short laugh. "This, this isn't a go-kart." Larry spread his hands toward the contraption, looking completely befuddled, whilst Charlie started moving around it and extolling its virtues.

"This is an extreme gravity vehicle. Its shape will help inform the next generation of high-performance automobiles."

"Okay, okay," Larry interrupted before she could really get going. "Hooray for making things go faster, but I fail to see how this will provide me with the necessary mathematical breakthroughs I need to redefine the fabric of the cosmos!"

Charlie gave him a Look, then pointedly went back to examining the vehicle. She was certain that she could make it go even faster. Maybe if she added a little something to the sides to help with drag… This left her hapless assistant to deal with the flummoxed professor.

"You know," Amit tried, "some physicists do their own math. Ed Whitton, Richard Feynman…"

"Hurtful," Larry wagged a finger at him. "I actually knew Feynman! I actually think of him often. You know, here's a discussion for you: why do we remember the past, and not the future?"

Momentarily thrown, Amit gave him a blank look, so Larry pointed to the math professor herself, who quickly stifled an eye-roll.

"That's a tough one, Larry. Look, I'll have time on Monday, I'll run through some equations for you." She really hoped that would be enough to placate her friend, and gave him a hopeful smile. Larry sighed and nodded, then headed back to his car. He knew that was as much as he'd get out of the brilliant young mathematician right now.

-BD-

Later that night, Charlie could hear her big brother enter the house, and she smiled to herself. They'd arrived at an uneasy peace not long after Don had moved out of the family home for the second time. While living under the same roof there was always an unexplained tension between them that she couldn't figure out, but not having to deal with each other's presence at all times had let them relax a little, and they were slowly finding common ground again. She hurried down the stairs, nearly running into Don as she navigated the final corner.

"Hey!" Charlie smiled at him as he caught and steadied her. "What's going on? What are you doing here?"

"Just making sure you don't take complete and total advantage of Dad," Don muttered, though the twinkle in his dark eyes told her he was joking.

"Are you kidding?" She quipped back. "He wouldn't know what to do without me." A soft snort of laughter was her only response as Don headed up the stairs, so Charlie started to head into the dining room.

Her interest, however, was caught by the files Don had left lying on the table in the living room. In particular, the map, with its bright red dots. Equations and patterns immediately leapt into her mind, and it took all of her effort to keep seeing what was physically in front of her. She was so lost in her own world of numbers that she didn't hear Don coming back down the stairs.

"Charlie, what do you think you're doing?" His voice was soft, as though he didn't want to spook his sister, but she just looked at him in interest.

"Crime scenes. What kind of crimes-" She was interrupted as Don lightly put his hands at her waist and pulled her away, before he started re-rolling the map.

"Get away from here!" Now he was mad, she could hear it in his voice, but her curiosity was piqued. "These are confidential case files!"

Charlie bit back a smirk. Technically she was able to be read into any investigation, thanks to her clearance… but Don didn't know that yet.

"She just looked at the map," Alan decided to attempt to mediate. "I made sure she didn't go through anything else."

"Good!" Don spat out as he grabbed his tie. Charlie folded her arms across her chest and followed him to the hall mirror.

"Thirteen crime scenes spread over a contained region," she commented. "You guys are analysing the significance of those locations?" Don gave her an incredulous look, before continuing with the task at hand.

"Yeah, it's called 'Predictive Analysis', the FBI pioneered it. I trained in it at Quantico, and it doesn't work on sado-serial crimes."

Charlie nodded as she leaned against the doorframe in a pose that would give most of her students pleasant dreams. Don stared for a moment, then shook himself and forcefully dragged his eyes away and back to the mirror.

"There's no way to predict the location of the next attack," he continued, hoping to keep her from the question he knew would follow soon.

"Y'know," Charlie started, and Don stifled a groan. "I helped you out on that stock fraud mess. And the IRS extortion case."

"Yeah," Don admitted, "this is different. It's not about numbers."

Charlie gave him an amused look, before she turned to walk away.

"Everything is numbers."

-BD-

Charlie raced into the bullpen, carrying maps and notebooks in her arms. Hot on her heels was Amit, her research assistant, slightly more organised but just as excited. The professor had worked nearly non-stop ever since her conversation with Larry, and had narrowed down an area to work from.

For her part, Charlie was ecstatic about being allowed to help Don. She'd done this sort of work plenty of times in the past for other agencies, but he didn't seem to realise just how many things her equations could be applied to.

Don ushered them both into the room that they were using as command centre for the case. Both Eppes siblings ignored the amused looks form the other agents at Charlie's unprofessional entrance – and appearance. While Don was in a dress-shirt and suit pants, and even Amit looked well-presented if casual, Charlie was wearing her usual combination of whatever clothes happened to be lying around when she got dressed that morning.

So today, it was three-quarter length baggy jeans, with odd socks and white sneakers, a form-fitting tank-top, and one of Don's long-sleeved shirts on top. She hadn't bothered with makeup, and her long mane of curly black hair was in a messy pony-tail. Alan kept telling her that she would be very attractive if she'd just put a little more effort into her appearance. Unfortunately for him, she wasn't interested in attracting a husband, so didn't see much point in wasting time on her looks, time that could be spent with her beloved chalkboards.

Don stifled a grin as he recognised his shirt, and briefly wondered where she'd picked it up from, but didn't say anything. He was so used to her dressing like that, he wasn't particularly bothered. What did bother him, though, were the looks she was oblivious to, coming from some of the other agents. The men looked like they were undressing her with their eyes, and the women looked condescending. Don had to bite his tongue to keep from going into all-out, protective big-brother mode. That had been a big problem for them in the past, and he needed to learn to let Charlie handle herself. Didn't mean he had to like it, though.

"Amit, can you put the first map right up here, please?" Charlie pushed some whiteboards out of the way to reveal a giant pin-board.

Don automatically moved forward to help the young man, and the two grinned at each other. They both knew how Charlie could get when she was on a roll.

"Now this map," the professor spoke to the room as if they were her students, "was generated by an equation." She turned and started to clean off a whiteboard, and Amit winced.

"Wait, Charlie, don't erase that!" He was concerned that she was destroying something case-related in her haste, but Terry Lake, Don's partner, hurried to reassure them.

"No, it's okay, it's an old case." At the same time, Don waved a dismissive hand. Charlie just kept going, and Don figured she probably hadn't even noticed the interruption.

"I'm writing the equation here," she paused as she did so, "in abbreviated form. I've pin-pointed the area most likely to be the perpetrator's residence."

"You got the guy's address?" Assistant Director Merrick asked, obviously not buying it.

"Not the address, no," Charlie corrected him. "An approximate base. Okay, I'm using some of the same techniques that physicists use to find black holes, which can't be detected in any way, other than the effect that they have on, on objects around them."

She seemed to be growing a little nervous, and Don flicked his eyes around the room. A couple of guys in the corner looked to be just short of laughing out loud at her, whilst everyone else looked highly sceptical. Even Amit looked a little lost, which wasn't promising.

Don returned his gaze to his sister and nodded at her to keep going. He had her back.

"Black holes?" Merrick asked, and Don pushed the annoyance down.

"Walt, she based her work on FBI theories of serial crime," he explained, trying not to sound confrontational. Charlie flashed him a smile, while Merrick still didn't seem convinced.

"Okay, professor," Merrick sighed, "why don't you just walk us through it."

Charlie nodded and turned back to her 'class', already back into teaching mode.

"Amit, can you put up the enlarged version?" He and Don did so, while Charlie kept talking. "The first point, really, to take into account is that when picking places to attack a victim, or to dump a body, the perpetrator will choose sites that appear to be selected at random. He doesn't want you to make any conclusions about where he lives, what areas he frequents."

"Right," Don nodded. This was similar to what he himself had told Charlie the previous night.

"You know what?" Charlie suddenly grinned, and Don felt a little worried. "Let's do an elementary demonstration. Okay, so can you help me just move this back…" Merrick looked on in concern as Charlie set about reorganising the room. Don just sighed and went along with it.

"Just distribute yourselves randomly across this area here," Charlie instructed her 'volunteers'. Amit bit back a laugh – he recognised the demonstration. The professor always had loved to make her lectures interactive, claiming that it helped to keep the information in the students' heads. Such as the Eppes Classic – turning the classroom into a casino to explain chance and probability.

"Now," Charlie grinned as the agents stopped moving, "look what you've done. You have distributed yourselves," she started moving between them, using herself as a measuring stick, "at equal intervals."

Amit smiled fondly at her. The way she moved through the sea of bodies, it was almost as though she were dancing.

"While true random patterns," Charlie continued, "will include clusters." Don nodded as the light bulb came on. Terry smiled, getting it as well.

"We're spaced too evenly," she said, and Charlie nodded.

"Exactly. It's pretty difficult to consciously pick a random sequence. Your suspect tried but, like you, wound up with roughly even spacing." She turned back to the map.

"In trying to avoid a pattern, he wound up with one anyway?" Terry's voice was optimistic as everyone took their seats again. Patterns they could work with.

"Yep. Locations purposefully distanced from a site not on your map, but clearly marked in the perpetrator's mind. Namely his residence. The equation," she quickly turned and underlined it, "reveals the probability that each area has of being the subject's base. Yellow's the hot zone."

"I had a feeling about Silver Lake," Terry commented as she glanced at Don, who appeared to be deep in thought.

"I estimate an eighty-seven percent chance he lives in that area," Charlie confirmed.

"You know," Merrick started, and Charlie turned to look at him. "I don't know a lot about mathematics, but this doesn't make any sense to me." Don bit back a groan, then smirked as Charlie drew her shoulders back, ready to defend her theory. Attacks on her math, she could definitely deal with.

"It makes more sense than this," she commented softly as she lifted the lottery ticket from Merrick's shirt pocket.

"You can't win if you don't buy a ticket," he snapped as he snatched it back. Charlie, however, was grinning madly.

"Yes, this is truth. However, the odds of this one being the winning ticket are one," she dashed back to the whiteboard, "in forty-one million. Which means, if you bought twenty tickets every week, you would win the jackpot once every forty thousand years." She had been scribbling the equation as she spoke, and now capped the marker with a flourish. Terry grinned and risked a glance at Don. He was hiding a fond smile behind a hand. After receiving that speech when Charlie was seven, none of the Eppes family had ever purchased a lottery ticket again.

"Really?" Merrick asked, a little dejected.

"Yep," Charlie, on the other hand, sounded triumphant. "It's basic probability theory." She stuck her hands in her pockets and looked around, waiting to see if someone else would challenge her. Don and Terry were avoiding catching each other's eye, knowing that they'd crack up laughing if they did. It wasn't every day that AD Merrick was proven wrong, and they both wished that Charlie would do it more often.

"Agent Eppes!" David Sinclair ran into the room then. "We found the dead girl's car. It's in a parking structure on West Hollywood." The room sprung back to life as agents rose to resume work on the case.

"Let's go," Don barked out orders. "Test it. Run it against cases from the past that have been solved. Miller! Pull some files for her to work with!"

In seconds, Charlie and Merrick were standing alone in the room while Amit went with Miller to collect some files. Charlie turned to her companion with a winning smile.

"So, you ever play craps?"

-BD-

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your boyfriend?" Alan commented to his youngest whilst feeding the pet cockatoo.

"You've met him before," Charlie answered wearily, "he's not my boyfriend, I'm his thesis advisor."

"Does that mean he can't be your boyfriend?"

"It's against the rules," she tried pointing out, but Alan was having none of it.

"Well, screw the rules. What's more important: learning, or love?" Charlie couldn't help the smile that graced her features. Amit looked amused as well.

"Anyway," Charlie looked up, still smiling, "aren't you meant to be threatening any man who comes near me? Or are you confident that Don has that covered?"

"Charlie, you're nearly thirty. I want grandchildren, and Lord knows your brother's not going to oblige any time soon. So, you need to get a boyfriend."

"I dunno," Charlie turned back to her work. "I could always ask Larry to be a sperm donor." Alan levelled a glare at her.

"If you do that, I'm disowning you."

Professor and student both laughed. Amit was picturing young curly-haired kids who were a cross between the physicist and the mathematician. It was a cute – but scary – image.

-BD-

Charlie slammed the phone down in anger. The math wasn't wrong! She knew that it couldn't be wrong. But Don had said all the men in the hot zone had been cleared. Growling in frustration, she turned back to the blackboard and picked up the chalk. She would find the answer, even if she had to stay here all week to do it.

In the background, she could vaguely hear Amit speaking, but couldn't hear the words. It was probably some platitude about how they'd tried their best. He didn't seem to understand just how important this was.

A hand touched her arm gently, and she whirled around while taking a step back.

"I am trying," she ground out through gritted teeth, "to think!" She felt a brief pang of guilt as pain flashed through Amit's eyes, but refused to allow herself to apologise. Charlie turned back to the board, and didn't even notice when the young man quietly slipped from the room.

-BD-

"I can't get my head around it," Charlie whispered as she sat, staring at her hands. Even after talking to Larry, she still couldn't figure out what was wrong.

"What are we missing?" Don asked as he paced in front of the window. "Where's the problem, and how do we make it work?" He was just as determined to solve the problem as his little sister was. Unfortunately, reality seemed to be against them. "We have to make it work."

"You have to retest it," Charlie rose from her seat and approached Don. "We need another run."

"Yeah, well, that's not gonna happen." Don hadn't told his family about being taken off the case yet. He still found it galling… hence why he was still working on it behind Merrick's back.

"Well, I know that it's gonna be hard talking your boss into doing it again," Charlie gestured with her hands as she spoke "but we can't stop after one attempt."

"Charlie."

"These kinds of new methods require repeated trials."

"Charlie," Don hated having to say this to her, "I'm not on the case anymore." Charlie froze, her mind already jumping to the obvious conclusion.

"Why?" Fear and resignation mingled into the one word, making Don feel even worse. He shot a glance at his father, who turned away. How he handled this was up to Don.

"Because, my supervisor wanted fresh eyes on it." He stumbled over the words a little, and the look on Charlie's face said it all. She knew that her unorthodox equation had ruined things for Don. Once again, by trying to help him, she'd royally screwed things up.

"Well maybe the math isn't the problem," Alan spoke for the first time, and both his children turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"Well, you just said that there was something you couldn't get your head around. And I know for a fact that it can't be the math." His words echoed Don's own feelings.

"What else is there?" The young professor looked up at her father like a lost puppy.

"Wait, maybe he's right," Don started moving again in an effort to get his brain working. "I mean, that sprinkler, that totally made sense. That you could track back from the locations, find out where the guy lives. Right? Totally made sense. Maybe we're thinking about this guy in too narrow a focus."

"Are you saying I need to consider more than his criminal activities?" Charlie hadn't quite caught up yet, so Don continued.

"No, not exactly. I'm saying that maybe we need to consider more than just where he lives. Look at me: if you designed an equation to find my origin, you wouldn't get my apartment, 'cause I'm almost never there! My base would be my office."

Charlie stepped toward the window, numbers and formulae flashing through her mind. She could already see the start of how to split the end result.

"Which means…" She spoke slowly, trying to form words over the roar of numbers in her head, "we use… his home and his work… as points of origin."

"Exactly!" Don finally sounded triumphant. They could do this.

"I can design an equation to identify two hot zones." Her voice was soft, almost lifeless, and for a moment Don was worried. "Why didn't I think of that?" The life came flooding back to her, and Don smiled as he shrugged. He knew she'd get it eventually.

-BD-

"Hey, Charlie!" Don called as Charlie climbed out of the squad car. She looked a little overwhelmed at all the activity going on around her. "Hey, c'mere. Something I wanna show you." He laid a hand on her shoulder, guiding her to what he'd called her for.

"Y'know, Holdane lived in Century City." Charlie looked disgusted, but Don continued. "But he just moved there three weeks ago. Look where he used to live."

The parking permit was for Silver Lake, Charlie's original hot zone. She looked up at Don, comprehension dawning.

"That's why we couldn't find him in the first hot zone." Don's voice was a mix of soothing and awe.

"He was there," Charlie smiled in triumph, "but he moved." Don smiled back.

"Hell of an equation, Charlie."

The siblings looked around at the controlled chaos around them, and Don figured he should get Charlie home. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders in a half-hug, which she leaned into. Physical contact was fairly rare between the two, and cherished when it occurred. As such, Don decided to take a chance and dropped his head to press a brief kiss to his sister's forehead, and was rewarded with a brilliant smile.

As Don led her back to his car, Charlie couldn't resist getting one more shot in.

"Everything is numbers."


	3. Chapter 02: A Tradition Is Started

Heh, glad you like it Jazmingirl. And hope you get better soon.

Chapter Two: A Tradition is Started. In which Charlie recruits Don for support, and Don finds out that not all maths functions are boring. Also, Don is very protective.

-BD-

Special Agent Don Eppes was bored. He'd just finished a case, just filed the last of the paperwork. There was still an hour before he could leave, and he was desperately trying to speed up the clock through sheer will-power. It didn't seem to be working.

His cell phone went off then, and he grabbed it in delight. Catching a case this late in the day was better than sitting around bored for the next hour.

"Eppes."

"Donnie," Charlie sounded on the verge of tears, and Don sat up straight.

"What's wrong?"

"Don, I need a huge favour."

"Anything," he answered without hesitation. He'd do anything to keep Charlie from crying.

"You might regret that in a moment." She already sounded a little better. "I'm meant to give a speech and present an award at a special dinner tonight. Larry was going to accompany me, but Dr Adler railroaded him into attending meetings all evening!" Dr Adler was the head of the physics department at CalSci – and didn't get along with Charlie at all. "And Dad's got his book club meeting here, I can't ask him to cancel it."

"Wait, let me get this straight," Don interrupted. "You want me to go with you to something math related?"

"Please, Donnie!" Charlie was sounding desperate again. "I can't go by myself, you don't know what it's like to be a female alone at one of these things!"

"What do you mean?" Don asked, confused.

"I mean, the men who aren't condescending asses will be trying to grope me. I can't face that by myself!" For a moment, Don saw red, and knew that Charlie heard him growl.

"Donnie?"

"I'm bringing my cuffs and gun," he stated firmly. "Anyone touches you, they get hauled off for assault."

Charlie laughed then, and Don smiled. That was more like it.

"Okay Don. Make sure you're out on time, I'll catch a cab to your office."

"Come on up to the bullpen, you can keep us company until we can leave."

"Will do. See you soon – and thanks."

"No problem, Baby-doll."

As he hung up, Don caught the interested looks from David and Terry. They'd heard his side of the conversation, but were still confused.

"Charlie," he explained. "She's giving a speech at a dinner thing tonight."

"And she called you because…" David still looked confused.

"I'm going with her. For… immoral support." He grinned at his subordinates, who both laughed.

"Shouldn't you change then?" Terry asked. "If it's a fancy thing, I doubt jeans and shirt are the acceptable attire."

"Got nothing else," Don shrugged. "If it's that bad I'll stop at home to change."

-BD-

Half an hour later, Charlie stepped into the bullpen. Don knew this, because he saw David's jaw drop. He turned, and immediately bit his lip to stifle a groan. The vision wasn't anything like Charlie's usual hap-hazard appearance. Tonight, she was definitely Charl_otte_.

She wore a floor-length black gown which hugged her figure and left her shoulders bare. At her neck was a simple silver chain with a tear-shaped pendant, and a delicate silver watch graced her wrist. Her hair was half pulled back into an elaborate knot, while the rest hung loose down her back. On her face was a bare amount of makeup.

In all, Don could see why she tended to get groped at these things. Hell, she was attracting a lot of stares here – though a death-glare from him was enough to send the staring agents scurrying back to work.

"Hey Don," Charlie smiled as she reached his desk. "Thanks again for doing this. I can't stand going to these functions by myself."

"No problem," Don managed to keep his voice level. "I got nothing else to do tonight."

"Great. Oh, I brought this," Charlie held out the suit she'd been carrying. "It's a formal event."

"See?" Terry muttered. Don shot her a glare, then accepted the suit.

"Okay. I'll go change. You wait here. And Terry?"

"Yeah?"

"Anyone tries to hit on her while I'm gone, shoot them."

"Donnie…" Charlie rolled her eyes in exasperation, while Terry chuckled. David, on the other hand, quickly turned back to his computer screen. He was fairly certain that Don wasn't joking, and that Terry would follow her orders to the letter.

In the bathroom, Don quickly made sure that he was alone before ducking into a cubicle and thrusting a hand down his pants. There was no way he could get through a whole evening with Charlie looking like that unless he took care of business first.

As he quickly stroked himself, trying to both keep the noise down and bring his climax quickly, Don's thoughts flew back to the moment he'd first realised just how attracted to his sister he really was.

-BD-

Charlie had been fifteen, and Don twenty. Both were back home from college for the summer, and finding it difficult to know how to act with each other. They'd already fought several times, mostly over Charlie's social life and the fact that she was dating.

For his part, Don was trying to work out why he felt so jealous every time Charlie mentioned a guy she liked, or who had flirted with her. He knew enough to realise that it wasn't just being protective, that there was some reason why he didn't want other men touching or even looking at her, he just wasn't sure what the reason was.

And then there had been the pool party at the neighbour's house, the day before Don was to go back to college.

Don had been in the pool, messing about with his old friends, when Charlie had climbed over the fence to join the party. She was right in the middle of puberty, still growing into her curves, but she still turned several heads clad in the skin-tight one-piece.

In particular, Don found it hard to keep his eyes off of her. He had the distinct feeling that he was about to understand his reactions to her.

She'd joined them in the pool, laughing and having fun, splashing and diving, and all the time Don stayed near to her, just in case someone tried something inappropriate. He was just starting to relax a little, and had turned to say something to one of his friends, when Charlie jumped on his back. He could feel her breasts pressing against him, and-

Oh. THAT was what was wrong. Don had gone from soft to rock-hard instantly, and all from feeling his sister's body against his.

Don wasn't entirely sure how he'd managed to make it through the rest of the party without everyone noticing his newly-realised attraction. Staying in the pool where no one would notice his erection probably helped, but the fact that every time he looked at Charlie it renewed itself made the evening torture.

That night, when he'd managed to escape and go to bed, he'd wanked to the memory of Charlie pressed against him.

-BD-

Remembering that incident, coupled with the image of Charlie all dressed up like a woman, was enough to bring Don over the edge fairly rapidly. He gasped for breath as he leaned against the wall for a moment, before quickly cleaning himself up and getting changed.

Fifteen years on, and Don still hadn't gotten the courage to tell Charlie that he wanted her. Hell, for most of that time he'd avoided her like the plague, probably ruining any chance he might have had with her.

But at least if she was dressing up like that now and then, he'd be getting some new fantasy material.

Back in the bullpen, Don was relieved to see that no one had noticed anything unusual about the length of time it took him to change. Terry was giving him a discreet, admiring gaze, which he did his best to ignore. Sure, he should probably find a girlfriend to distract him from thoughts of Charlie, but he respected Terry too much to use her like that.

Instead, he offered his arm to Charlie and smiled at her.

"Shall we?"

"We shall," Charlie smiled at him, and Don was immediately grateful that he'd just relieved himself. Otherwise, he probably would have embarrassed himself just from that.

-BD-

Charlie was quiet on the drive to the hotel, which was unusual. She kept biting her lower lip, which told Don that she was nervous. He shook his head and grinned. It was a maths event – how bad could it be? Sure, he'd be bored, but Charlie would be in her element.

They pulled into the hotel's parking lot, and into the first available park. It was only a short walk to the hotel itself, but Charlie was already uncomfortable by the time they made it through the doors. She hated wearing high heels.

Once inside, Charlie headed straight for the main conference room. She'd been here before, and Don just shrugged and followed her lead. It was obvious that she was apprehensive, but he still couldn't figure out why. Surely she'd just been exaggerating on the phone earlier.

Upon entering the conference room, he suddenly had a little more understanding. Of maybe two hundred, two hundred and fifty people in the room, he could see about ten other women – and all of them looked bored out of their skulls. They were obviously not mathematicians. It gave Don pause for thought – not only was Charlie a genius, not only was she young, but she was also a woman in an extremely male-dominated field. No wonder she didn't want to come to this thing by herself.

Then Charlie broke into a genuine smile, and hurried up to a pair of men who were apparently in the middle of an argument.

"Max! Arnold! I didn't think you'd make it!"

"And miss your speech?" The older man smiled as he bent to kiss Charlie's cheek, which made a stab of jealousy run through Don. "Never, m'dear. It's the highlight of my month."

"Flirt," Charlie grinned at him, then turned to Don.

"Don, this is Dr Arnold Myer, and Professor Max Jennings. Gentlemen, this is my big brother, Special Agent Don Eppes."

"Of course," the younger man, Max, spoke. "I remember you talking about your brother before. I see the family resemblance, especially around the eyes."

Charlie and Don shared a look. It wasn't often that someone could tell that they were related, though he was right about the eyes. Both siblings had inherited their father's dark, almost black eyes.

"As luck would have it," Arnold continued, "you two will be sharing our table. Perhaps you can even join in our little… discussion."

Don looked sceptical, but Charlie smiled.

"If it's the usual, I think Don will be more help than me." Don turned an incredulous gaze on his sister, who grinned at him. "They're baseball fanatics."

"Oh, thank God," Don said, relieved. "Sane people at one of these things!"

Max laughed and slung an arm across his shoulders as he guided them to their table. The two were already off and running, talking about the finer aspects of Don's favourite sport.

The first part of the evening went well. There were a couple of other men at the table, who both acted as though baseball was below them – so Charlie and the others ignored them. Don was happy sharing stories from his minor-league days, and Max and Arnold were keen listeners. Every now and then Charlie would chime in with statistics or her own observations. She'd gone to a few of his games in college, even if he hadn't always been aware of it. Don was pleased with the way things were going, since talking about baseball was more likely to keep him from thinking about how sexy Charlie was looking.

At one point, Charlie got up and left the table. Don didn't take much notice – until he heard the previously ignored men talking about her.

"Don't know what Eppes thinks she's doing here," a portly, unkempt man spoke. "Mathematics is no woman's field. Honestly, she should be married and popping out kids."

"Exactly," the other agreed. He was taller, with a truly awful wig that didn't match the colour of his remaining hair. "I'd certainly tap that, if she wasn't such a damned know-it-all."

Don bit down hard on his cheek to clear the red haze threatening to take over. No one got away with calling Charlie a know-it-all except him. And to even consider that cretin touching her… Max and Arnold were both glaring at the speakers, but Don had something better. He pulled his badge out of his pocket and laid it on the table, making sure the arrogant pigs could see it, then leaned forward and gave them his best 'pissed off Federal Agent' glare.

"One more word," he ground out through gritted teeth, "and I'll arrest you both for harassment."

The first speaker was gobsmacked that someone would be standing up for Dr Eppes' honour, but Don wasn't finished. He cast his eye over the one who said he would 'tap' Charlie, and snorted derisively.

"And you… you'd never have a chance with her. For one, she's got a little too much self-esteem to crawl into bed with someone who thinks that ridiculous wig's fooling anyone."

With that, he turned back to the sporting discussion, which had turned to the different types of football. Max and Arnold were both trying to contain their laughter, with only moderate success.

After a moment of shock, the nameless cretins stood and left. Not long after, Charlie returned, and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"What happened to Drs Caulfield and Reynolds?" She asked. Don shrugged, feigning ignorance.

"Guess they didn't like our topics of conversation."

Charlie narrowed her eyes, guessing that her big brother had something to do with the disappearance of two of her least-favourite peers. Don, however, was the very picture of innocence. She sighed, figuring that she'd just interrogate Max later.

-BD-

Eventually, the time came to present the awards. Don grew bored very quickly, and resorted to muttering his own commentary to Charlie. She was struggling to maintain her composure and pay attention, given the awards that Don was making up.

"And this not-so-prestigious award for the most waffle talked and waffles eaten..."

By the time Charlie had to give her speech, she was nearly in tears from keeping her laughter under control. She was glad to escape her brother's comments, but at the same time she was incredibly nervous. Sure, she spent most of her days speaking to large groups of people, but teaching was different to giving a speech to her peers. Charlie had always hated giving speeches.

Don could see that Charlie was nervous as she stood in front of the room, so he did what any normal big brother would do. As soon as her gaze came to him, he crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue at her. Immediately Charlie ducked her head, shoulders shaking, and looked at her notes. Don knew that she was fighting a total crack-up. When she looked up again, her mirth-filled smile was radiant – which brought Don's little problem right back.

"My esteemed colleagues…"

-BD-

"Hey Don?" Charlie asked as they went back to his car later.

"Yeah?"

"I really hate you."

"I know," Don flashed her his genuine, eye-crinkling smile, and she couldn't help but grin back. They settled into the car and Don started the engine, reflecting that the night really wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be.

"So," he asked as he manoeuvred the car out into the street again, "when's the next one?"


	4. Interlude One: Nightmares

Jazmingirl: Eugh, pneumonia. I had it when I was about 10, remember sleeping for about a month right before Christmas. Not fun. Hope this brightens your day a bit.

Ddee: Well, you did ask for it. Yeah, I'll put a note in the next chapter of the original. Question: Are you Dee dee on AFF? Wasn't sure if you were the same person or not. And the differences will become more apparent as the chapters progress - next chapter has some more already.

Interlude: Nightmares. Twenty-five years apart, the siblings have very similar conversations.

-BD-

Twenty-five Years Ago

"_Donnie?"_

"_Charlie? Huh? Geez, what do you want? I was sleeping!"_

"_I… I had a nightmare."_

"_Oh. A nightmare, huh?"_

"_Yeah. My English book grew teeth and tried to eat me!"_

"_Wow. That's… some nightmare."_

"_Yeah."_

_Pause._

"_So, uh… you wanna sleep here tonight?"_

_The only answer was a tiny girl climbing into his bed, and Don smiled. As Big Brother, he could banish any nightmare._

-BD-

Present Day

Charlie yawned as she made her way up to bed. She'd spent most of the night working out in the garage, and had gotten to a point where she was happy to leave off and go to sleep.

As she passed the dining room, she smiled. Don was spending the night after closing a horror of a case. Charlie hadn't helped – Don wouldn't let her – and she'd worried about him. Especially when Terry let slip that he'd been threatened by a suspect. But it was all over now, and Don was here.

Suddenly wanting to see him, Charlie hurried quietly up the stairs and pushed open Don's bedroom door. She told herself that she was just going to see that he was still there, then leave.

Until she heard a whimper.

Pausing in the doorway, she watched as Don seemed to be caught in a nightmare. It looked as though he was trying to fight someone off. Without thinking, Charlie crossed to sit on the edge of his bed and gently took his hand.

"Donnie, shhh," she whispered. "You're safe. You're home. There's nothing to fight."

Soon the fight left him, and Charlie smiled as she replaced his hand inside the covers. As she stood again, however, Don groggily opened his eyes.

"Charlie?" He rasped, voice still thick with sleep. "What are you doing in here?"

She paused, knowing that Don wouldn't appreciate her seeing him when he had a bad dream. Then she shrugged and looked him in the eye.

"I had a nightmare."

Don blinked, then smiled. He might be tired, but he wasn't stupid. Charlie was still fully dressed, and had been happily working on one of her problems – he glanced at the clock – only an hour ago. No way did she fall asleep and have a nightmare in that time. Especially not when he'd been having one of his own. When it came to him, she really was a terrible liar.

"Oh. A nightmare, huh?"

"Yeah," Charlie said softly. "My big brother got so caught up in protecting me that he didn't take care of himself, and he got hurt when he wouldn't let me help him."

Don glanced down, unable to meet her eyes.

"That's… some nightmare."

"Yeah."

They sat for a moment, before Don smiled tiredly at Charlie.

"So, uh… you wanna sleep here tonight?"

Instead of answering, Charlie toed off her shoes, and climbed under the blanket. Sure, a 30-year-old professor sharing a bed with her older, federal agent brother was odd, but she figured that they both needed the comfort tonight. She waited until Don's breathing evened and she knew the nightmares wouldn't come back before she let herself close her eyes and follow him to sleep.

This time, it was Charlie's turn to be the guardian – and Don thought she wasn't doing too badly.


	5. Chapter 03: Guns 'n' Numbers

Jazmin: Well, things start to get interesting here. Hope you enjoy.

Julie: I was wondering if you were reading these. Glad you're enjoying it so far.

Chapter Four: Guns 'N' Numb3rs. In which our favourite mathematician meets our favourite sniper, and sparks fly.

-BD-

As the months passed, Don and Charlie gradually found an acceptable balance in their working relationship. Don was still incredibly protective of his little sister, but he was resigned to the fact that he couldn't always prevent her from inserting herself into investigations.

Such as now. Don was busy talking to David about the dead mailman, whilst Charlie had swiped a police officer's clipboard and was estimating shooting positions. She smiled slightly to herself, knowing that Don didn't want her to be at the crime scene right now. But she was curious – she couldn't help herself. Charlie figured that one day her curiosity would get her into trouble, but right now she didn't really care.

She'd deal with that day when it came.

-BD-

Charlie bit her lip and fumed as she wrote furiously on the chalk-board. That Edgerton really got on her nerves! Sure, he was good looking, and intelligent, and got on well with Don… she sighed and paused in her writing, not really hearing Amit and Larry talking behind her. _Face the facts_, she thought to herself. _He may be an arrogant bastard, but you find him fascinating, and rather attractive._

Shaking her head, Charlie tuned back into the conversation in time to hear Larry mention his aunt being afraid to leave the house.

"Why don't you tell your aunt," she suggested, "that statistically speaking she has more chance of being mauled by a bear."

"Actually," Larry mused, "statistics would favour the bear being mauled by my aunt, but…" Charlie laughed, remembering some of the other stories about this aunt. Larry had a good point. "This fear, this reaches beyond the realm of statistics, Charlotte." He sank down onto the couch and made himself comfortable, settling in for a long discussion. "This is about arbitrary, inescapable death. Y'know, times like these, you just wind up speculating about paths not taken, jobs left undone…"

"Larry," Charlie said with a small pang of guilt, "I… I'm trying to get those equations done for you, as soon as I can."

"No, no, no," Larry waved a hand in dismissal. "At that moment I was actually thinking of a far more prosaic legacy. Someone to carry on the Fleinhardt standard."

Charlie raised her eyebrows in astonishment and shared a glance with Amit. He looked just as surprised, and also a little devious.

"I didn't know you wanted kids, Larry," Charlie said thoughtfully.

"Well," Larry continued toying with a ceramic plate, unable to meet her gaze. "Children are wormholes. They're portals into the unreachable future and unattainable past. As things stand, though, they exist only in the theoretical realms."

Charlie stifled a laugh and turned back to the blackboard, whilst Amit continued to watch the despondent physics professor.

"Y'know," he started, and Charlie bit back a groan. She knew that trouble-making tone of voice. "Charlie threatened her father once with asking you to be a sperm donor for her own kids."

"Really?" Larry looked surprised. "Do you want children, Charlotte?"

"It was a joke," she glared at Amit. "A joke to get Dad to shut up about me producing grandchildren for him."

"Ah, that sounds far more likely," Larry nodded. After all, Charlie may have been a beloved teacher to many, and a brilliant mathematician, but she was rather lacking in maternal instincts.

-BD-

"Invisibility is a sniper's greatest strength. If he starts to worry about losing it, his heart rate increases. If he doesn't know how to handle that, his breathing rhythm gets thrown off."

Charlie could hear the words, but didn't really comprehend them. After all, Edgerton was standing so close behind her that she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. She could feel her own heart rate speed up, as her eyes fell shut and his half-whispered words washed over her. He had the most amazing voice.

It was then that she noticed it. Edgerton's breathing was slightly off as well. Was the proximity unnerving him, too? Forcing her eyes back open, Charlie looked down and saw Don looking around. He was probably searching for her. Somehow, he always did know when she was close to actually getting somewhere with a guy. She bit back a sigh and stepped away from the window, lightly brushing against Edgerton as she did.

Just for a moment, she was certain that she heard a hitch in his breathing, and allowed herself to think that she was affecting him just as much as he affected her.

-BD-

That night, Charlie was trying to concentrate on both her calculations and her closest friend. It was no easy task, even at the best of times. Now, though, it was even harder, as the only thing that kept running through her mind was Edgerton.

"You know, at times like these," Larry commented as he set down a glass of cola in front of Charlie, "an empty house is not a home." He paused as she sent him a sympathetic look. "I've been evaluating my immediate prospects for a conventional nuclear family. I've just now begun to consider adoption."

"How long have you been considering that?"

"Three days."

"Give it a few more days," Charlie stifled a laugh.

"Yeah," Larry ran his hands over his face, and Charlie gave him a tender smile.

"Tell you what," she suggested. "Think about it for a month, and if you still want kids… we can talk about my threat."

Larry paused, trying to think, then beamed at his protégé. Charlie allowed herself a chuckle, before turning back to her calculations. Truth be told, she did want kids eventually, the timing had just never been right. That, and she had yet to meet a man she would like to start a family with. As sad as it was, her friendship with Larry was the most stable relationship she'd ever had. The most stable, and the longest lasting.

The pair turned back to the case, and after a few comments, Larry pointed out that she needed to 'insert a human element'.

"You sound like this Agent Edgerton guy," Charlie muttered, hoping that Larry wouldn't notice how she smiled when she said his name.

"Agent Edgerton?" Larry queried. He hadn't heart that name before – and didn't miss the small smile.

"He's a sniper instructor that Don brought in from Quantico. He thinks I should be out shooting rifles."

"Well why aren't you?" Larry exclaimed.

"It's… it's a poor allocation of my time," Charlie protested, grabbing at the first thing that came to mind. "In the time it takes to shoot X amount of bullets, I can access ten, twenty, or a hundred times that amount of data."

"No, no, no, no," Larry shook his head, a twinkle firmly in his eye. She was protesting far too much. "There's data, and there's hands on experience, these are two different beasts. That's why you have blackboards, and laboratories."

"You study the universe," Charlie pointed out, "and yet you've never been to outer space."

"Yeah, but if I had the opportunity, do you think for a moment that I'd hesitate?" The professor asked wistfully. There was silence for a moment, before he continued. "And anyway, it would give you more time with your sniper instructor."

"What?" Charlie spluttered. "That's not an incentive!"

"Really?" Larry smiled knowingly. "I think it's more of an incentive than you're willing to admit."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Charlie muttered as she turned back to her pads, and Larry laughed before deciding to drop the subject.

In truth, Larry was more than a little concerned. He'd seen the way that Don tended to look at Charlie, and he'd noticed that when Don was around, Charlie ignored any other male in favour of her big brother. While he acknowledged that Charlie probably had little to no idea about the possibility of having feelings for her brother, he was certain that the agent had figured it out.

Larry didn't really have a problem with the idea of a brother and sister being in a relationship, not when he knew the sister as well as he knew Charlie. He was, however, concerned by the fact that Charlie was so clueless when it came to emotions, that Don could wind up hurting her without realising that he was doing so. Charlie had idolised her brother for so long that she might go along with anything he suggested without really thinking of how it was going to affect her.

So Larry intended on encouraging Charlotte to pursue a relationship – or at least a fling – with the visiting sniper that she seemed so taken with. The experience with another man could only help when the time came to make the choice about whether or not to give in to Don.

-BD-

"The weight of the gun, the noise of the shot, the effect of the recoil, there's no way I have of understanding that, because I don't know what it is to shoot a gun!"

"Exactly! Which is why I brought him in to begin with!"

Ian watched as Don stormed out of the room, apparently unaware that the noise of the argument had carried out into the bull-pen. He was impressed that the professor had realised what she didn't know and was trying to understand sniping, though he was a little curious as to why Don refused to let her try her hand at shooting. After all, it wasn't like she wanted to learn hand-to-hand combat or knife-fighting. Shooting a rifle at a paper target with a proper instructor present was perfectly safe.

Mulling it over, Ian stepped into the room where Charlie was leaning against the white-board, arms folded across her chest and glaring at the floor. He allowed himself a smirk – she really was adorable when she was cross.

"Hey there, Professor," he greeted her, smirk still in place as she jumped a little. "Couldn't help overhearing. Nice to know you can admit your shortcomings."

"Yeah, well," Charlie blushed a little. "As Larry said, there's data and there's hands-on experience. If I want to fully understand the data, I need to have the experience. Only Don doesn't seem to see it that way." She sounded so put out that Ian chuckled.

"Quite right," Ian nodded as he stepped up close, invading her personal space again. Charlie looked up at him, seeming to consider something, then smiled sweetly. Immediately, Ian was on alert, suspecting that something was coming. No woman wearing that smile ever had anything good in mind.

"You think I could use the experience too, don't you?"

"Yeah," he agreed warily. He had an idea of where this was headed.

"So… will you teach me how to shoot?"

"Hmm…" Ian narrowed his eyes at her. "Won't Don disapprove?"

Charlie leaned up to whisper in his ear, and Ian suppressed a shudder as her breath tickled his neck.

"Who says that Don needs to know everything?"

She pulled away, and her smirk was mirrored on him. She was right, Ian nodded. Don didn't need to know everything.

"Well then," he half-whispered, enjoying the effect that it seemed to have on Charlie. "I guess we're headed off to the rifle range."

-BD-

"You don't need to flinch, you know," Ian bit back a laugh. "It's the other end that's dangerous."

"I know that," Charlie rolled her eyes. "It's just… I don't like loud noises. They've always bothered me."

"Fair enough," Ian shrugged before kneeling behind her. "Here, adjust your grip a little. Like this." He re-positioned her hand on the rifle, letting his touch linger a little. "Now try again."

There was something oddly calming about the way Ian was knelt behind her, Charlie thought to herself. It was as if he was waiting, ready to catch her if she jumped again. She let out a breath, drawing on the calmness, and fired. This time, at least, she hit the target.

"Good," Ian whispered, his mouth right next to her ear. "Reload and try again." His left hand was resting on her leg, and Charlie swallowed hard before speaking.

"Are we here to shoot or flirt?" She hated how husky her voice was, though Ian didn't seem to mind.

"We can't do both?" He asked, a smirk evident in his voice.

Charlie turned to look at him, then leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. She pulled away after a moment and gave him a smirk of her own, before giving her attention back to the gun.

"One thing at a time," she whispered.

"Fair enough," Ian agreed, and went back to teaching. Though now, he kept his arms wrapped around her waist. It was clear that he wasn't letting go any time soon.

-BD-

The next morning, Alan looked up in surprise as his daughter let herself into the house. He was in the middle of making breakfast, having thought that she was asleep upstairs. Don was also there, and he looked completely stunned.

"Morning, Dad," Charlie grinned at him, and Alan couldn't help feeling a little optimistic. Her lips were swollen, clothes more rumpled than usual, hair mussed, and a dopey grin was firmly on her face – and she was firmly avoiding looking at Don.

"You had sex," he commented, then waited as both of his children choked on their drinks.

"Dad!" Charlie spluttered. "What sort of a thing is that to say to your daughter?"

"A true statement," Alan said matter-of-factly, ignoring the devastated look on Don's face. "You did. So, am I going to have a son-in-law any time soon?"

"I doubt it," Charlie said wryly. "He's… not the sort to settle down."

"Oh. So he's practise?"

"Dad!"

"What?" Alan asked, hiding a grin. Charlie looked mortified.

"I am not discussing my sex life with you. Just… no." With that, she turned and ran up the stairs to shower and escape her father's embarrassing questions.

Alan chuckled, then turned to look at Don. Don was staring after Charlie as though she had stolen his favourite toy, which concerned him a little.

"Donnie," Alan said softly, and waited until his son turned to look at him. "She's an adult, you know. You have to stop treating her as though she were a child. She's allowed to have relationships if she wants to."

Don dropped his gaze guiltily. He wasn't about to contradict his father though. Because the real reason he was so devastated, was that he wanted to be the one to make Charlie look like that. He wanted to be the one kissing her and taking her to bed.

But it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

-BD-

Upstairs, Charlie showered, letting her hands run over the marks Ian had left on her skin. Bites and scrapes that had made her scream with pleasure at the time, now made her feel oddly ashamed. She'd had a brilliant night, learning to shoot and then having amazing sex, but something was wrong.

She couldn't forget that at one point, when she'd looked up at Ian moving above her, her mind's eye had lengthened his face and spiked his hair, and it was the thought of Don that had driven her to climax.

Thankfully she'd managed to avoid calling out the wrong name, but it still made it difficult to meet Ian's eyes for the rest of the night.

Sighing, Charlie stood still and let the water run over her, wishing it could wash away her thoughts as well. Because she had been thinking of Don more and more lately, and only rarely in a sisterly fashion. She'd begun to notice him as a man, not as her brother, and she wasn't entirely sure what to do about it.

-BD-

A few days later, the action was all over, and Charlie stood outside the hotel Ian had been staying at. She'd been thinking about what to say to him, but still wasn't sure. She sighed and leaned against his truck, waiting. After a while, the sniper himself appeared, bag in hand. He stopped in front of her and dropped the bag to the ground. He waited for her to initiate the conversation.

"Back to Quantico?" Charlie asked softly, and Ian nodded.

"I got classes to teach. Jobs to do. You know how it is." He sounded a little reluctant, and Charlie smiled sadly. Sure, they'd agreed that it was a one-off fling, but maybe… maybe he did care. Which made her rebellious thoughts about Don that much worse.

"Well," she squared her shoulders and looked up at him, smile a little stronger now, "if you're ever in town again, swing by the house. You're welcome any time."

Ian looked a little surprised, then smiled back.

"I'll hold you to that. And if you're ever near Quantico, look me up." He handed her a card with his personal details on it, which Charlie pocketed.

"Will do," she nodded, then relaxed as he wrapped his arms around her and claimed a goodbye kiss. Before they could get carried away, he reluctantly released her, and Charlie turned to head back home.

It was better this way, she told herself. It was like she'd told Alan – he wasn't the sort to settle down with a family.

Now if she could just stop thinking about settling down with Don, life would be much smoother.

-BD-

Ian hummed along with the radio on the drive back home. He was already planning for the next time he would see his lovely professor. After all, it wasn't every day that he found a woman who he could argue heatedly with one minute, and have amazing sex with the next.

If anyone could convince him to settle down… he had a feeling it would be Professor Charlotte Eppes.

As long as he could convince Don not to shoot him for it.


	6. Deletion Notice

Dear readers:

I'm clearing out my fics that aren't getting updated in the foreseeable future. As a result, this fic will be deleted sometime in the first week of July. If anyone wants to take an idea and run with it, be my guest. If I do finish these in the future, I will edit and repost everything.

Thanks to those who have offered support, I'm not gonna keep you hanging and take up server space with something that has died.

KC


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